Thomas silveb



(No Model.)

T. SILVER.

CLOCK WORK FOR MECHANICAL LAMPS.

N. PHERS. Phnxwulhn ra hcr. Wnshiughn. n. c.

NITED STATES PATENT OFFICE,

THOMAS SILVER, OF NEW YORK, N Y., ASSIGNOR TO S. ELWOOD MAY, OF

- SAME PLACE.

CLOCK-WORK FOR 'MECHANIC AL LAMPS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 287,334, dated October Application filed April 16, 1883. (N0 model) To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, THOMAS SILVER, of the city and county of New York, in the State of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Clock-\Vork for Mechanical Lamps, of which the following is a specification.

My invention is applicable to the class of lamps known as mechanical lamps, in which air is supplied to the flame by a mechanicallyoperated fan; and it relates to the mechanism employed for driving the fan.

One feature of my invention is applicable only to mechanism actuated by a spring, which for-ms a variable power, the power exerted constantly'diminishing as the spring runs down; and this feature consists in a novel combination, with clock-work and a fan deriving motion therefrom, of a governor which offers a variable resistance to the rotation of the shaft proportionate to the speed at which it is rotated.

The invention also consists in a novel combination, with the clock-work and fan-shaft, of the gearing employed to transmit motion from the clock-work to said shaft, as hereinafter described, and pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a vertical section of a lamp-stand and mechanism embodying my invention, and Fig. 2 is a transverse section of the fan-shaft and an inverted plan View of thegovernor employed in connection therewith.

Similar letters of reference designate corresponding parts in both figures.

A designates a circular casing or column,

which'is adapted to form the stand of a lamp, and the upper end of which is open, so as to receive the lamp-reservoir within it. No reservoir or burner is here shown, and although my mechanism is adapted for use with any of the burners usually employed in mechanical lamps, it is particularly designed for use with a burner of my invention, which I intend to make the subject of a future application for Letters Patent.

B designates the frame-work of the clockwork mechanism. O designates the train of wheels, which may be set in motion by a weight, or by a spring contained in a spring-barrel, D.

E designates the fan, which is fixed to a shaft, F, mounted in bearings a, and deriving motion by gearing from the last shaft, 0, of the 7 train of wheels 0. The fan E is arranged in a case, E, near the top of the standard A. The fan E may be made of thin metal; but to avoid the ring and noise peculiar to thin metal blades when in rapid rotation, I prefer to make it of non-metallic material, such as mica, vulcanite, celluloid, paper, or other light and nonresonant material.

Motion is imparted from the shaft 0' to the fan-shaft F by means of a friction-wheel and pinion, G H. The wheel G has one or more steps the faces of which are coincident with the plane of rotation, and the pinion has corresponding steps, which are cylindric; This wheel and pinion I may make of rubber, Vulcanite, or othermaterial. Of course the sev- 7o eralsteps of the wheel should each bear the same relative proportion to the several steps of the pinion. The faces of the several steps of the pinion bear against the faces of the sev-v eral steps of the wheel, while the edges of the 7 5 steps of the pinion rest upon the peripherical edges of the steps of the wheel. The shaft 0 has its pivots bearing in screws 1), which may be adjusted to produce a proper'degree of friction between the wheelG and pinion H. The stepped friction-gearing here shownis advantageous, because the pinion is afforded adequate bearing on the peripherical portions of the wheel, and the weight on the fan-shaft F, acting through the pinion H on the wheel G, does not tend to move the shaft 0 endwise, as would be the case if bevel-gearing were used; hence there is less friction and the wear does not produce so great end-play of the shaft 0 as would be the case if bevel-wheels were used. 0

Upon the shaft F, I arrange a governor capable of offering a variable-resistance to the rotation of the said shaft. Any form of governor which is adapted to the situation may be used, but the one here shown is very desirable, and 5 I will now describe it in detail. I do not, however, claim it specifically. Upon the shaft F is secured a frame or yoke composed of cross-bars c and upright rods or shafts d. This frame or yoke rotates with the shaft. Below said frame or yoke is a collar, e, secured to the shaft, and above the collar is a gear wheel or pinion, f, which is loose on the shaft and meshes into two wheels or pinions, g, which are fast to the lower ends of the rods or shafts d. To the rods or shafts d are secured the blades or wings I. Between the collar 0 and the wheel or pinion f is a spring, h, which is coiled about the shaft F. One end of the spring i fixed fast in the collar, and the other end is secured at h to the wheel f. The power of the spring, acting through the wheels f and tends to turn the shafts d and holds the blades or wings I normally in the position shown dotted in Fig. 2. The shaft F is rotated in the direction indicated by the arrow, Fig. 2. \Vhen in the position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2, the blades or wings I offer but little resistance to the rotation of the shaft F; but as the speed of rotation of the shaft increases the blades or wings are caused by centrifugal force to move or swing outward, and thus gradually in crease the resistance offered by the air to the rotation of the shaft. When the blades or wings reach the position shown in free lines, they offer their maximum resistance to the rotation of the shaft. The power of the spring h and the centrifugal force of the blades or wings I, aided by the action of the air which tends to swing them out, form two constantlyopposed forces, which, if equally powerful, would hold the blades in any position in which they were placed. When the actuating-spring is most powerful, just after being wound up, the rapid rotation of the shaft will throw the blades or wings outward more and more, and

thus offer an increased resistance to the shaft.

As the spring weakens and the speed of the anism as of my invention.

inward, and the resistance offered by the blades will be diminished. I V

I am aware that it is old in mechanical lamps to provide the fanspindle with aworm or screw, with which one of the wheels of the train of clock-work engages to drive'the fan, and I do not claim such a combination of mech- The toothless friction-wheels G H roll oneach other noiselessly, and are not subjected to such great wear as are the worm or screw above referred to and the wheel which engages with it to drive it.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In a mechanical lamp, the combination, with a fan and a spring-actuated. mechanism for rotating it, of a governor applied to the fan-shaft, and offering a variable resistance to the rotation of the shaft, the resistance increasing as the speed of rotation increases and diminishing as the speed of rotation diminishes, substantially as and for the purpose herein described.

2. The combination, with the fan-shaft F and a train of wheels comprising the shaft 0', of the stepped toothless friction-wheel G on said shaft 0 and the stepped toothless frictionpinion H, which is supported upon and driven by said wheel G, and which is fixed to the fan-shaft, substantially as and for the purpose described.

THOMAS SILVER. Vitnesses:

FREDK. HAYNES, ED. L. MORAN. 

